THE CASE FOR A POSITIVE COSMOLOGICAL Λ-TERM

2000 ◽  
Vol 09 (04) ◽  
pp. 373-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
VARUN SAHNI ◽  
ALEXEI STAROBINSKY
Keyword(s):  
Cosmological Constant ◽  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Scalar Fields ◽  
Accelerating Universe ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Present Epoch ◽  
Polarization Effects ◽  
Age Of The Universe ◽  
The Universe

Recent observations of Type 1a supernovae indicating an accelerating universe have once more drawn attention to the possible existence, at the present epoch, of a small positive Λ-term (cosmological constant). In this paper we review both observational and theoretical aspects of a small cosmological Λ-term. We discuss the current observational situation focusing on cosmological tests of Λ including the age of the universe, high redshift supernovae, gravitational lensing, galaxy clustering and the cosmic microwave background. We also review the theoretical debate surrounding Λ: the generation of Λ in models with spontaneous symmetry breaking and through quantum vacuum polarization effects — mechanisms which are known to give rise to a large value of Λ hence leading to the "cosmological constant problem." More recent attempts to generate a small cosmological constant at the present epoch using either field theoretic techniques, or by modelling a dynamical Λ-term by scalar fields are also extensively discussed. Anthropic arguments favouring a small Λ-term are briefly reviewed. A comprehensive bibliography of recent work on Λ is provided.

Cosmology Today

Daedalus ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 143 (4) ◽  
pp. 125-133
Author(s):  
David N. Spergel
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Dark Energy ◽  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empty Space ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Basic Parameters ◽  
Age Of The Universe ◽  
The Universe

We seem to live in a simple but strange universe. Our basic cosmological model fits a host of astronomical observations with only five basic parameters: the age of the universe, the density of atoms, the density of matter, the initial “lumpiness” of the universe, and a parameter that describes whether this lumpiness is more pronounced on smaller physical scales. Our observations of the cosmic microwave background fluctuations determine these parameters with uncertainties of only 1 to 2 percent. The same model also provides an excellent fit to the large-scale clustering of galaxies and gas, the properties of galaxy clusters, observations of gravitational lensing, and supernova-based measurements of the Hubble relation. This model implies that we live in a strange universe: atoms make up only 4 percent of the visible universe, dark matter makes up 24 percent, and dark energy – energy associated with empty space – makes up 72 percent.

scholarly journals CONSTRAINTS ON DARK ENERGY FROM THE OBSERVED EXPANSION OF OUR COSMIC HORIZON

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (07) ◽  
pp. 1113-1127 ◽  
Author(s):  
FULVIO MELIA
Keyword(s):  
Dark Energy ◽  
Cosmological Constant ◽  
Cosmic Time ◽  
Accelerating Universe ◽  
De Sitter ◽  
Dark Energy Component ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
Type Ia ◽  
Age Of The Universe ◽  
The Universe

Within the context of standard cosmology, an accelerating universe requires the presence of a third "dark" component of energy, beyond matter and radiation. The available data, however, are still deemed insufficient to distinguish between an evolving dark energy component and the simplest model of a time-independent cosmological constant. In this paper, we examine the cosmological expansion in terms of observer-dependent coordinates, in addition to the more conventional comoving coordinates. This procedure explicitly reveals the role played by the radius Rh of our cosmic horizon in the interrogation of the data. (In Rindler's notation, Rh coincides with the "event horizon" in the case of de Sitter, but changes in time for other cosmologies that also contain matter and/or radiation.) With this approach, we show that the interpretation of dark energy as a cosmological constant is clearly disfavored by the observations. Within the framework of standard Friedmann–Robertson–Walker cosmology, we derive an equation describing the evolution of Rh, and solve it using the WMAP and Type Ia supernova data. In particular, we consider the meaning of the observed equality (or near-equality) Rh(t0) ≅ ct0, where t0 is the age of the universe. This empirical result is far from trivial, for a cosmological constant would drive Rh(t) toward ct (t is the cosmic time) only once — and that would have to occur right now. Though we are not here espousing any particular alternative model of dark energy, for comparison we also consider scenarios in which dark energy is given by scaling solutions, which simultaneously eliminate several conundrums in the standard model, including the "coincidence" and "flatness" problems, and account very well for the fact that Rh(t0) ≈ ct0.

Cosmological constant

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kachelriess
Keyword(s):  
Dark Energy ◽  
Cosmological Constant ◽  
Accelerated Expansion ◽  
Vacuum Fluctuations ◽  
Present Epoch ◽  
Modify Gravity ◽  
Expansion Of The Universe ◽  
The Universe

The contribution of vacuum fluctuations to the cosmological constant is reconsidered studying the dependence on the used regularisation scheme. Then alternative explanations for the observed accelerated expansion of the universe in the present epoch are introduced which either modify gravity or add a new component of matter, dubbed dark energy. The chapter closes with some comments on attempts to quantise gravity.

scholarly journals Radio Source Environments at Redshifts > 0.5

1996 ◽  
Vol 175 ◽  
pp. 321-322
Author(s):  
M. Lacy ◽  
S. Rawlings ◽  
M. Wold ◽  
A. Bunker ◽  
K.M. Blundell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Source ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Elliptical Galaxies ◽  
Radio Sources ◽  
Powerful Radio ◽  
Host Galaxies ◽  
Local Universe ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Age Of The Universe ◽  
The Universe

The most powerful radio sources in the local Universe are found in giant elliptical galaxies. Looking back to a redshift of 0.5 (≈ half the age of the Universe for ω = 1), we see that these host galaxies are increasingly found in moderately rich clusters. This fact gives us hope that radio sources can be used as tracers of high density environments at high redshift. By exploiting radio source samples selected over a wide range in luminosity (Blundell et al., these proceedings), we will also be able to test whether the luminosities of radio sources are correlated with their environments.

scholarly journals Cosmological constant decaying with CMB temperature

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (06) ◽  
pp. 1950088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomohide Sonoda
Keyword(s):  
Cosmological Constant ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Field Equations ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Dark Energy Density ◽  
Dimension Formula ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The Hierarchical Structure ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Cmb Temperature

Recent observations of the dark energy density have demonstrated the fine-tuning problem and the challenges faced by theoretical modeling. In this study, we apply the self-similar symmetry (SSS) model, describing the hierarchical structure of the universe based on the Dirac large numbers hypothesis, to Einstein’s cosmological term. We introduce a new similarity dimension, [Formula: see text], in the SSS model. Using the [Formula: see text] SSS model, the cosmological constant [Formula: see text] is simply expressed as a function of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature. The result shows that both the gravitational constant [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are coupled with the CMB temperature, which simplifies the solution of Einstein’s field equations for the variable [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] model.

scholarly journals The habitable epoch of the early Universe

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham Loeb
Keyword(s):  
Cosmic Microwave Background ◽  
Cosmological Constant ◽  
Water Chemistry ◽  
Early Universe ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Rocky Planets ◽  
The Universe

AbstractIn the redshift range 100≲(1+z)≲137, the cosmic microwave background (CMB) had a temperature of 273–373 K (0–100°C), allowing early rocky planets (if any existed) to have liquid water chemistry on their surface and be habitable, irrespective of their distance from a star. In the standard ΛCDM cosmology, the first star-forming halos within our Hubble volume started collapsing at these redshifts, allowing the chemistry of life to possibly begin when the Universe was merely 10–17 million years old. The possibility of life starting when the average matter density was a million times bigger than it is today is not in agreement with the anthropic explanation for the low value of the cosmological constant.

scholarly journals CONSTRAINING TEVES GRAVITY AS EFFECTIVE DARK MATTER AND DARK ENERGY

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (12a) ◽  
pp. 2055-2063 ◽  
Author(s):  
HONGSHENG ZHAO
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Dark Energy ◽  
Scalar Field ◽  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Elliptical Galaxies ◽  
Dual Roles ◽  
Acceleration Of The Universe ◽  
The Universe

The phenomena customarily described with the standard ΛCDM model are broadly reproduced by an extremely simple model in TeVeS, Bekenstein's1 modification of general relativity motivated by galaxy phenomenology. Our model can account for the acceleration of the Universe seen at SNeIa distances without a cosmological constant, and the accelerations seen in rotation curves of nearby spiral galaxies and gravitational lensing of high-redshift elliptical galaxies without cold dark matter. The model is consistent with BBN and the neutrino mass between 0.05 eV to 2 eV. The TeVeS scalar field is shown to play the effective dual roles of dark matter and dark energy, with the amplitudes of the effects controlled by a μ function of the scalar field, called the μ essence here. We also discuss outliers to the theory's predictions on multiimaged galaxy lenses and outliers on the subgalaxy scale.

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